The present invention relates to a device for inflating an airbag.
Discussion of the Prior Art
DE 197 38 741 teaches a device for inflating an airbag which provides side crash protection in a motor vehicle. To this effect an elongated inflation tube is arranged in the airbag. Inflation gas is directed into the inside of the airbag via the inflation tube.
It is known from the prior art, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,725, which is incorporated herein by reference, that a piston can be used to release gas from a storage vessel. FIG. 1 shows a prior art inflator taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,725 that can be used for inflating an airbag with compressed gas from a vessel. A gas pressure container 100 includes an inflation head 104 that is contiguous to an outlet opening 103. The outlet opening is closed by a sealing element 115 that can be metal foil. The sealing element 115 is attached to a supporting disc 118 that is located in the outlet opening 103. The supporting disc 118 is in turn supported by a centrally arranged locking element 121 at an abutment 122 against the opening forces exerted upon said sealing element 115 by the gas pressure inside the container 100. An opening device is fitted with a triggering mechanism 130 which, when actuated, displaces locking element 121 and the sealing element 115, thereby opening the container outlet 103 and inflating an airbag. The locking element 121 can be moved out of the locking position by a laterally acting force that is produced by a piston 131 of the triggering mechanism 130, to open the gas outlet opening 103. It is suggested that to ensure that the pressure container will open and that an appropriate amount of gas will be released, a throttling member 149 be provided in the gas pressure container 100 in the direction of gas exhaust upstream from the outlet opening 103, with a pressure chamber 146 between said throttling 149 and the outlet opening 103 in the bottleneck. In the known device, the load on the supporting disc 118 produced by the compressed gas is conveyed via the centrally located locking element 121 into the abutment 122 that is rigid with the vessel containing compressed gas. For this purpose, it is necessary that the device components have exact dimensions in order to avoid deviations from the force transmission in the longitudinal axis of the locking element.
There is provided in accordance with the present invention a device for inflating an airbag comprising a gas container in which an inflation gas is held in readiness under high pressure, an inflation tube that extends into the airbag, a gas release nozzle that is connected a gas tight manner at its one end to the gas container and a gas tight manner at its other end to the inflation tube, a gas tight sealing device which during normal operation outwardly seals the compressed gas container and which is opened to allow gas to enter the inflation tube, and a throttle device which throttles the inflation gas flow into the inflation tube and which is located in the flow direction of the inflation gas behind the sealing device in the gas release nozzle.